Music is a mystery for people who play it, write it, listen to it, and write about it. The only thing I can really do when I try to say something about music is assume.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Playing the violin without a chinrest: one solution

I was surprised to see the concertmaster in this Vivaldi Lute Concerto video has a white scarf tied around his neck and through the top of the tailpiece of his violin. I don't think I would ever try this myself, but it is an interesting solution to keeping the fiddle in place without a chinrest.

I am active as a composer, a violist, a violinist, a recorder player, and as a teacher. I began my professional musical life as a flutist, and spent a lot of quality time as a baroque flutist, but both of those instruments spend their time tucked away in a drawer, while my violin, viola, and my viola d'amore are often tucked under my chin.